Chemistry Appreciation and Awards Night

2026 Event

The annual Chemistry Appreciation and Awards Night is designed to recognize the hard work and achievements of the graduate and undergraduate students of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Iowa.

Undergraduate Awards and Recognition

Department Awards

Donald J. Burton & Margaret A. Burton Scholarship

Bailey Wolf

E. David Cater Scholarship

Abdul Quraishi

Russell K. Simms Scholarship

Marissa Majewski
Parker Nicks

Kenneth Sando Scholarship

Ford Denham

Chemistry Alumni Awards

Senior Recipient
- Ben Mullen
- Michael Lauer
Junior Recipient
- Sophia Avila
- Allison Halligan
Sophomore Recipient
- Zach Smith

Leeper CRC Freshman Chemistry Award

Evelyn Norcross
Sydney Stringer

Merck Index Award

Cole Johnson

Leeper American Institute of Chemists Award

Charlie Ohl

ACS Division of Analytical Chemistry Award

Conner Hammons

ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry Award

Ben Mullen

ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Award

Laynie Walberg

ACS Division of Physical Chemistry Award

Luke Wedemeyer

Richard J Sundberg Award

Russell Miller

George E. Inglett Scholarship Fund

Ava Schaldecker
Ben Troester

Summer Undergraduate Research Award

Kara Kueper

Viksnins, Harris, & Padys Poster Award

Andrew Geiger
Marissa Majewski
Parker Nicks
Abdul Quraishi
Bailey Wolf

BS and BA Graduates

Fall 2025:
BS: Gabriel Livermore, Amy Millard#, Amelia Short^;
BA: Lindsay Ginger
Spring 2026:
BS: Nadia Arsenijevic#, Kyle Delaney, Maximilian Duffy, Conner Hammons^, Trinity Janis, Thomas Kim, Michael Lauer, Ben Mullen^, Uyen Ngoc Nha Nguyen, Donald Roberts, Tayla Stocker-Davis, Nathan Yanacheak
BA: Katherine Anthofer, Yadiel Berhanu#, Monserrath Borja Bustamante, Katharine Easter#, Sophia Heller^, Aiden Kemmann, Shu-Chi Lin, Andy Luu, Daniel Martinez, Ariana Neziroski^, Skyler Nolte, Nicholas Post^, Abdul Quraishi^, Ella Schlueter, Jacob Shaw, Jessica Singh, Maryam Smith, Andrew Sullivan, Tyler Timmerman, Emily Veksler^, Laynie Walberg, Leo Xiao

#High Distinction, ^Distinction

Graduate Student Awards and Recognition

Department Awards

A. Lynn Anderson Award for Research Excellence

Akalanka Ekanayake
Harindu Rajapaksha

Kathryn K. & James D. Steele Scholarship

Ben Carvell
Sarah Hill

University Recognition

Ballard and Seashore Fellowship

Spring 2026: Akalanka Ekanayake (Tivanski), Caleb DeWitt (Bhattacherjee), Jeewani Meepage (Stone), Vidumini Samarasiri (Forbes)
Fall 2025: Primadi Subintoro , Shanari Wickremasinghage (Bowden)

Graduate College Post-Comprehensive Research Fellowship

Spring 2026: Dishan Das (Margulis), Austin Heidbreder (Bhattacherjee)
Fall 2025: Peter Zacher (Daly)

CLAS Dissertation Writing Fellowship

Summer-Fall 2026: Harindu Rajapaksha (Forbes/Mason)

Graduate College Summer (2026) Fellowship
• Thumini Dias (Tivanski)
• Saurav Katuwal (Bowden)
• Sabina Kumi (Friestad)
• Matteo Mannara (Martin)
• Hung Nguyen (Margulis)
• Ebuka Onyeyilim (Williams)
• Buddhima Pathiraja Arachchillage (Gillan)
• Chamini Perera (Shaw)
• Aiman Shahbaz (Carter)
• Melissa Siewert (Daly)

Hancher-Finkbine Medallion
• Akalanka Ekanayake (Tivanski)

UI 1st Gen Student Achievement Award
• Akalanka Ekanayake (Tivanski)

OVPR Graduate Research Excellence Award, Physical Sciences
• Harindu Rajapaksha (Forbes/Mason)

OVPR Innovations in Safety Award
• Emma Markun (Forbes)

OVPR EHS Excellence in Safety - Individual Recognition
• Colleen Lasar (Shaw)

UI Division of Student Life MISSE Excellence in Perseverance Award
• Akalanka Ekanayake (Tivanski)

External Recognition

ACS Graduate Student & Postdoc Scholars Program: Recognition of Excellence for Leadership in Mentoring
• Caleb DeWitt (Bhattacherjee)

ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry (Division of Inorganic Chemistry) Travel Award
• Setayesh Parsapour (Daly/Shaw), Ecem Celik (Carter/Forbes)

Association of Public Health Labs, Postdoc Fellowship, UI State Hygienic Lab
• Josie Welker (Stone)

2026 Seaborg Institute Graduate Research Fellowship- Los Alamos National Lab
• Nick Dahlen (Forbes)

2026 Seaborg Distinguished Postdoc Fellowship, Idaho National Lab
• Harindu Rajapaksha (Forbes)

2025-2026 MS Graduates

Fall 2025: Ecem Celik Duran*, Dishan Das*, Akalanka Ekanayake*, Vishuka Heenatigala Pathiranage*, Aiman Shahbaz*, Shanari Wickremasinghage*, Nadeeshan Wijesundara*, Kaitlin Krivak, Sreya Roy

Spring 2026: Ayomide Ajewole*, Rachael Bertolino*, Emmanuel Bonsu*, Lillie Chudacoff*, Dulanji Dharmagunawardhane*, Thumini Dias*, George Donkor-Gyami*, Khadijah Ishola*, Mariam Okunade*, Buddhima Pathiraja Arachchillage*, Clarence Peiris*, Toyin Sunday*, Andrei Padeanu, David Pille

* en passant
** with thesis

2025-2026 PhD Graduates

Summer 2025: Andrew Kreps, Brett Lottes, Hayley Petras

Fall 2025: Andrej Corkovic, Theodora Leventis, Ashley Schneider, Primadi Subintoro

Spring 2026: Bichitra Borah, Akalanka Ekanayake, Tess Feldman, Ashanthi Katuwana Arachchige, Colleen Lasar, Harindu Rajapaksha, Vidumini Samarasiri, Sarah Scherrer, Josie Welker, Shanari Wickremasinghage, Mikayla Wymore

Event Schedule

5:00 p.m. - Reception

6:00 p.m. - Ceremony

Welcome – Prof. Renée Cole (DEO)
Undergraduate Awards – Prof. Mona Maalouf
Chemistry & Sustainability Study Abroad- Prof. Adam Brummett
Graduate Awards – Prof. Scott Shaw
CGSA Awards – Abby Carlin & Nathan Loutsch
Safety Awards- Emma Markun
Closing remarks – Prof. Renée Cole

The Graduating class of 2026 recognizes these UI faculty and staff members for making a positive difference in their lives during their time at the University of Iowa. President Barbara Wilson, Executive Vice President and Provost Kevin Kregel, and Vice President for Student Life Sarah Hansen join in thanking all of the valuable faculty and staff members who work every day to make a difference for our students.
Names were collected through the UI Senior Exit Survey, which all undergraduates are invited to complete at the time they file to graduate. Names in bold were mentioned more than 5 times.